Prowling my world, camera in hand

19 December 2018

Week 50: Jijona, El Campello, Santa Pola

Filed under: — Administrator @ 07:00

It was a week with work but also lots of cycling. And the Christmas season is in full swing, albeit in a low-key sort of manner for us.

50_1
On the first Sunday of the week, I cycled to Jijona to have a look at the town’s Feria de Navidad. The main street of the town was turned into a long Christmas market:
R004918

50_2
On one end of the street stands Jijona’s official Christmas tree, in front of the town hall. Lots of family pictures were taken this afternoon:
R004913

50_3
Although this young couple were interested in other things:
R004914

50_4
Jijona’s main claim to fame is its turrón, a bar made of nougat, sugar and other flavours. It is a protected geographical indication and exists in two main varieties, the hard turrón de Alicante and the soft turrón de Jijona, both of which are actually made in Jijona. In the Christmas fair there were many different versions on offer. I bought some from this stand and took it home in my bicycle handlebar bag:
R004919

50_5
As is usually the case with this kind of events, people invariably end up in the local bars:
R004923

50_6
Just on the southern edge of Jijona another Christmas tradition was on display, a large nativity scene set in a natural setting, a rock face above a dry river bed. It seems that the whole town comes to look:
R004930

50_7
Especially parents with children:
R004931

50_8
And this is what they were viewing:
R004932

50_9
R004926

50_10
R004924

50_11
I kept going to the beach to look at the morning sky. This is Monday morning, looking north towards Benidorm:
DSF6013

50_12
Looking east over the Mediterranean:
DSF6012

50_13
A couple of doggie pictures. This sad-looking little creature was waiting for its human in the vestibule of the Consum supermarket:
R004934

50_14
My daughter has recently moved to an apartment a bit outside the city, very close to my office. She shares it with a couple of Italian friends, one of whom has brought a cute dog into the household:
R004936

50_15
R004938

50_16
On Thursday some of the Danes in the office gathered for our traditional Christmas lunch; compared to a Christmas lunch in Denmark, it was low key, held in our office restaurant, and the food was not Danish. But we had akvavit:
DSF6025

50_17
Birgit serves akvavit:
DSF6030

50_18
Birgit smiles at me:
DSF6027

50_19
My main dish, lamb:
DSF6029

50_20
Friday morning, back on the beach:
DSF6038

50_21
DSF6040

50_22
During the night a cold front enveloped the Iberian peninsula, and some moisture came in from the Atlantic. While here in Alicante we stayed dry and above freezing, one did not have to look far to see a sign of winter. This was the view from my office around noon on Friday (by Saturday the snow on Sierra de Aitana was gone):
DSF6044

50_23
Another sign of winter is that chestnuts and churros stands appear in the centre of town:
DSF6045

50_24
Early on Saturday, I drove to the fishing harbour in El Campello, at the northern end of the town, about 4 km from my house. This is the view of the main beach promenade from the harbour:
DSF6047

50_25
The part of the harbour where the fishing boats are is normally closed to the general public, but on this Saturday morning the gate was open, and I took advantage of the opportunity to take a walk among the boats and the nets:
DSF6051

50_26
Even though the sun was shining and the temperature was pleasant, the sign on the auction house announces the cancellation of the day’s fish auction due to bad weather:
DSF6048

50_27
It was probably too windy for these small boats to go out on the open sea. So I walked around a bit, taking in the details:
DSF6053

50_28
DSF6052

50_29
On the beach promenade near the harbour, the restaurants were still closed but the customers were already waiting outside:
DSF6060

50_30
DSF6062

50_31
Later on Saturday, I cycled south to Santa Pola, a town about 25 km south of Alicante and an important fishing harbour as well. As in El Campello, the fishing boats were in the harbour and the nets were laid out to dry:
R004946

50_32
Mending:
R004942

50_33
On the way home, I passed this rather spectacular ruin in the beachfront community, Arenales del Sol:
R004950

50_34
The billboard explains that the construction has been stopped by the ministry of the environment. It turns out that someone bought an old hotel and started renovating it; but in the process, the company enlarged the building and in effect transformed the project from renovation to new construction, something that was illegal according to the law that governs the use of coasts. So in the winter of 2017, the company was ordered to demolish the building, and since then it has stood on the promenade as an ugly eyesore while the wheels of Spanish justice grind (slowly, presumably):
R004947

No Comments

No comments yet.

RSS feed for comments on this post.

Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.

Powered by WordPress